12.06.10 - Scale it Sally

3-3-3-3-3 Deadlift

"Diane"

21-15-9
Deadlifts (No more than 50% 1RM)
Handstand Push-ups

3RM: 155#
Time: 5:17
Comments: 95# deadlifts, HSPU on 20" box with an abmat on the floor. Todd scaled it using knees on the box, which I had never done. We had previously used toes and a pike position, and I have to say at that scale, I NEVER got full range of motion. The knees on the box felt much better form-wise. Did all the HSPUs unbroken, and the DLs only broke on the 15 rep set. This WOD felt pretty good (nice and quick!). The HSPUs are going to hurt me tomorrow... Not sure how the deadlifts are going to come back to haunt me, but my foot hurts again, so I'm icing it and hoping for the best. Didn't have a score for Diane yet – always good to get a new number on a named WOD.

12.01.10 - Plyos and Presses

Strength
5-5-5-3-3 Press

AMRAP (As many reps as possible)
50 Double Unders
20 Box Jumps (24/20#)

3RM: 75# (2x 80#, 85# 1RM)
Reps: 4.5
Comments: Due to the whole foot thing, I was too scared to jump rope or box jump. So I substituted a 250m row for the jump rope, and did 20" step-ups with 10# dumbbells in each hand. Tim told me on a step-up, you're not to actually 'step' with your second foot, but raise your knee as if you're actually climbing stairs, then bring it back down to the ground. This gave my left quad and incredible workout (when I did it right, about 1/2 the time). I didn't want to have to switch legs and land back on the bad foot see? So when I switched legs I did put my second foot down on the box. Still a sweaty mess after, still breathing heavy and red-faced, I thought this was a nice way to scale down. I was kinda pumped about my press numbers at the end. Stayed and did some foam rollers on my legs. Not feeling so hot after jumping back in with The Bear... But a good pain.

11.29.10 - Bear Complex

Don't forget your front squat!

5 Sets of 7 Rounds (3 minute rest between each set).

Power Clean
Front Squat
Push Press
Back Squat
Push Press

Increase weight each set. No dropping the bar between rounds.

Time: 22:15
Max Weight: 55#
Comments: This is for sure my favorite WOD. I love it. Back (YET AGAIN!) after another 3-week break due to a painful foot injury*. I was nervous about it acting up. I felt it a little a couple of times and am icing as I type. Anyway, last time I did this I maxed out at 70#, but that was back in May when I'd been on a "winning streak" so to speak. I didn't want to over do my return trip and end up hurting myself again (or more), so I am planning to take a page out of Matt G.'s book and "not be a moron". Jen was in my class and we rolled around for a while after on rollers and with lacrosse balls, while we watched some of the Super Kids play with the Bear. Fun night back.

*Incidentally, I was talking to Mark W. about my foot and he said several people have complained about hurting feet? Tonight I sort of thought it may have been originating in my arch with the resulting actual pain settling in the ball of my foot, behind the middle and "ring" toe. It felt at its worst as though someone had inserted a marble under my skin at that spot. Ow...

11.02.10 - Holiday Meltdown

Dumbbell Split Jerks
4 x 6 each arm, increasing weight each set

Max Dead Hang Pull-ups
in between DB sets

MetCon:

500m Row
10 Handstand Push-ups
50 Double Unders (x4 singles)
400m Row
8 Handstand Push-ups
40 Double Unders
300m Row
6 Handstand Push-ups
30 Double Unders
200m Row
4 Handstand Push-ups
20 Double Unders
100m Row
2 Handstand Push-ups
10 Double Unders

Dumbbells: 15/20/25# last two sets.
Max Pull-ups: 4 (green band)
Time: 20:18
Comments: Definitely the slowest in the class. Vance was nice enough to cheer me on at the end. Singles on the jump rope made for a lot of jumping. Did box assisted (very weak) HSPUs. Should have worked harder on the pull-up part but I was glad I used a green band. Probably could have done 30# dumbbells, but I was bruising my shoulders. This is not a good week for CFit for me. Lots of schedule conflicts. Boo. Will try to get a swimming workout in Thursday night to make up for all the missed WODs.

10.27.10 - Benchday

10x2 Bench Press on the minute.

1000/800/600/400/200 Rows with
20/16/12/8/4 Kettlebells (50/35#) + Burpees in between each row.

Bench: 75#
Time: 29:08
Comments: Sometimes I like to say: That Sucked. Tonight I'd like to say: THAT SUCKED. Saw 500m average times hovering around 2:30 A LOT. TRIED to keep it around 2:15. OCCASIONALLY saw 2:00s. Totally scaled cheated and did minus 2 on the reps. So I actually did 18/14/10/6/4. I don't even care because what I really wanted to do was the L1 workout – HALF the above! OMG. Really that was awful. Even WITH my cheat, I doubt any L2s were slower than me.

I almost forgot: As we were working up our bench press to figure out a weight, we hit 95#. Vance asked if I needed a spot. Cocky me said, No thanks! Rep 2 = Failure. Praying I didn't rip something while I waited to be rescued. Thanks Vance!

This was a modified WOD from CrossFit One World. Thanks for that one Freddy.

10.25.10 - Happy Anniversary!

5-5-3-3-3 Front Squat

10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Kettlebell Thruster (35/20#)
2-4-6-8-10-12-14-16-18-20
Body Rows

3RM: 85#
Time: 15:50
Comments: I first walked in the doors of Atlas one year ago today! After the body rows tonight, I'll probably feel the same in the arms I did at the end of that week. Still love/hate it, in a good way. Went a little easy on the front squats: 55/65/75/85 (skipped the last one, ran out of time). I didn't want to kill myself and my 1RM is 105# I think from several months ago (UPDATE: 110#). Used 15# KBs. And scaled the rows to a manageable angle, but stayed on my heals and felt a good range of motion thru the 20. I'm scared for my arms though. Rolled them out a bit on the foam roller after. Still scared. Oh yeah, we did some solid foam rolling in the beginning, and it felt really awful but good too. He kept saying to try not to grimace. Ha.

In other news: Terry complimented my Thrusters! After I made sure he wasn't being sarcastic, I was kinda flattered!

10.20.10 – Extremity

6 Rounds of 5
Pull-ups
Ring Dips

5 Rounds
500m Row
10 KB Step-ups (each leg, 18/12 box, 45/25#)
10 burpees

Time: 24:45
Comments: Good god my endurance is awful! Those rows! I swear I was averaging like 2:15-2:18 but there were times I even saw 2:28s on the computer. Yikes. I was dragging ass. Oh yeah, and had coordination issues reminiscent of the early days getting the right arm/leg combo on the step-ups (our group used #15 KBs). Nice. Really feeling very good to be back at it but I'm definitely paying (again!) for the extended time off. Pretty much sore everywhere after yesterday and tomorrow I'm predicting my arms will be out of commission. Face is still hot to the touch over an hour later.

10.19.10 - I'm Back; Round 2

3-2-1-2-1-2 Snatch

7 Rounds Each (40/25#):

7 Dumbbell Push Press (7 each arm/14 total)
7 DB Hang Clean
7 DB Deadlift

Snatch: 50#
Time: 6:34
Comments: Lots to report...
1. I'm out of excuses. No more "summer", no more "art show". I'm back, three days a week, until Christmas "break".
2. WENDT joined me for my first back, her second class tonight! Nice Jen! Happy to have a new partner in crime to keep me honest and provide a little friendly competition.
3. We didn't really do the rep order, and since I'm fresh-starting it once again, I took it easy tonight on the Snatch. UPDATE: I guess! My max is 80#!!! Ooops.
4. Had Todd for the first time. He recommended for Level 1 we use a 15# DB. I should have used 20s. But that's fancy talk considering I'm not sore yet. We'll see what tune I'm singing tomorrow.
5. This was a good re-entry workout. It felt pretty "easy" although I didn't exactly push it.

09.20.10 - New Classes!

3-3-3-3-3 Thrusters

1000m Row
21 Sumo Deadlift High Pulls (85/55#)
21 Push-ups

750m Row
18 SDHPs
18 Push-ups

500m Row
15 SDHPs
15 Push-ups

Rest 2 minutes between sets.

Thruster 3RM: 95#
Time: 22:44
Comments: Man that sucked. Worst than the Wall Ball WOD last week by far. The rowing was awful but the push-ups, my god. I didn't have a thruster weight recorded so I'm not sure how I feel about 95# but could not have really gone much higher. Toward the end of each row I was pulling an average 2:15-2:18 500m! Dying! I can already feel the Sumo in the backs of my arms...and I did the Rx weight... But really those push-ups. Holy cow.

09.16.10 - CFE/Make-up

Thursdays are either make-up a missed WOD or Crossfit Endurance WOD.

CFE:
45s/1:30/3:00/6:00/3:00/1:30/45s
Alternate On/Rest with each time, bike, run or row. (I would Row).

Missed Monday:
18/1, 16/2, 14/3... –> 2/10
Double Unders/Burpees (I'd have to do 4x single jumps – 72/64/56...).

Opted for --- wait for it --- Monday Make-up!

Time: 15:16
Comments: Posted distances for the rows were around 3500 meters. 6 minutes straight row sounded boooring. We've done a lot of rowing lately. The row would be a longer workout, but maybe "easier". I was kind of curious how far I could go. BUT, I haven't done burpees in a while. And just about the only parts of my body not sore right now are my calves and triceps. PLUS, I've realized recently that I love the residual pain from burpees! AND, 55 didn't sound like THAT many? Isn't that nuts? Loved the workout. For sure Tuesday's Wall Balls was the toughest one for me this week.

09.15.10 - Mobility 'r' Us

Deadlifts
5-5-5-3-3 / 2 min. rest between sets.

15-12-9-6-3
Deadlifts at 70% 3 Rep Max
Toes to Bar
Push-ups

Strength: 85/105/115/145/165#
Time: 11:20
Comments: Used 105# for deadlifts. Did knees to elbows but it was probably more like knees to armpits! Push-ups were unbroken? That felt kinda good even tho it wasn't really that many reps.

09.14.10 - Tuesday

4 Rounds with out dropping bar for technique:

3 Snatches
3 Power Cleans
3 Hang Snatch
3 Hang Cleans

4 Rounds Max Effort for Time:

300m Row
30 Wall Balls (20/14#)
Rest 3 min between rounds.

Time: 21:16
Comments: The lifting was hard. Even in warm-up with just the 35# bar I felt weak. So I went to a trainer bar and stuck two 10# plates on for the sets. I was sweating. Then lined up to do the WOD. I used only an 8# ball, but since I almost skipped and/or was thinking about cheating all day, after doing all 120 wall balls, I'm patting myself on the back. Pretty much wanted to puke the whole ride home. Now I just want to go to bed.

09.09.10 - CFE Thursday

CrossFit Endurance
20 Intervals Row
30 seconds @ 80%/30 sec rest

200m Walking Lunge

Distance: 1461/1454 = 2915 meters
Average 500m Time: 1:58.1/1:55.3
Average meter per interval: 127/127

Comments: OF COURSE I did the math wrong. I was all, setting up the computer and so proud of myself for doing it – then did just 10 intervals instead of 20. When I was done with the first 10 I was looking at the regular clock and thinking, Huh? Done already? How can that be? Then I realized, so I reset the computer and did 10 more. I got probably about 2 min. rest in between the 2 sets of 10 intervals. I was hoping to negative split, and maybe get 3000 meters. Didn't get the distance, but my time improved second go around. I pushed myself on each of these and I figure worked harder than 80%.

Skipped out on the lunges. I can't have BOTH my arms and legs non-functioning this weekend. Holy hell my arms from yesterday! Kinda liked the mellow atmosphere of the Thursday night make-up WOD/CFE. The CFE workouts have always interested me on paper. I liked the interval row quite a bit.

09.08.10 - On the Minute

2 x 10 Power Clean on 1 Min @ 90% 1RM

20-16-12-8-4 Pull-up
4-8-12-16-20 Kettlebell Swing (55/35#)

200 Meter Row after each round of pull-up/KB

Cleans: 70#
Time: 15:33
Comments: Didn't go up to 90% on the cleans. Couldn't remember what my 1RM was, but knew that number was long ago regardless. 70#? Probably could have done 75, but we'll have to see what's not working tomorrow when I wake up. Used a grey band on the pull-ups. I can't remember the last time I did a pull-up. The first two were great and it went immediately downhill from there. Thought about doing jumping pull-ups at one point, but stuck it out with some really crappy reps. KBs used a 25#. I had nothing to give the rows really.

Oh yeah, we did an additional 800m run as part of the warm-up. I was the last one in and class had re-started by the time I got my PVC pipe. Awesome!

08.25.10 - Congrats IACs

5-5-5-5-5 Handstand Push-ups

Tabata (8 reps, 20 sec on/10 sec rest)

Kettlebell Swings (45/35#)
Dumbbell Push Press (25/15#)
Box Jumps (24/20")
Bench Press (95/45#)

Checkout: 150 Double Unders

Lowest # of Reps per Set: 7-7-7-7
Comments: Warm-ups included front and back somersaults and cartwheels and I am proud to say I could do them. HSPs on the box. A couple attempts on the wall. Jennifer told me to do some negatives (lower all the way even if you can't get back up) to work on full-range. Thanks Jen. We had to rotate the start, so I went box jumps (18"), bench (45#), KBs (20#), press (10#s). I think I recorded it wrong on the board because my brain sort of malfunctioned. I think I may have really done all 7s instead of 7-7-6-8 because I thought to myself if I did all 7s why didn't I remember that? Let's just say that I for sure averaged 7s because that was my goal and I really wanted to be consistent with my reps on all 8 sets. Had some 8s, 9s, but got 7s mostly. For the checkout I decided I'd try and do 5 sets of 50 unbroken. Got that. My first attempt I lost it at 47. Thought my scales were pretty good today. I felt "even" as I worked through each set at least.

In other news: Sarah W.'s lowest number of push-presses was 23! Holy crap!

08.24.10 - Hook It

5-5-5-5-5 Deadlift Reps for Max using Hook Grip

AMRAP in 15 minutes:

100m Shuttle Run
20 Wall Balls (20/14#)
20 Sit-ups

Deadlift: 55-85-105-125-135#
Rounds: 4 2/3
Comments: This WOD did not kill me but I did not kill myself to beat it either. Used an 8# ball! We did this coaches warm-up thing where we had to hold a 10# plate arms straight ahead at parallel, in not-quite parallel squat 1 min, 45 sec, 30 sec while our partner offered resistance pressing on the weight. That plus 100 wall balls and I'm not sure I'll be walking normally again this week. It's the squatting that really kills me which is why I scaled my ball weight so much. 93 sit-ups total. SLOW transitions – put my abmat on the other side of the gym.

08.16.10 - CFE Success

3-3-3-3-3 Push Jerk

7 Rounds:
7 Dumbbell Squat Cleans (40 M/25#)
7 Burpees

Checkout: 3 50 Sit-ups

3R Push Jerk Max:95
Time: 10:32
Comments: Finally got the use of my legs back to "normal" Sunday. Could have gone higher on the push jerk but didn't want to. Only used 15# DBs and I STILL thought about doing only 6 rounds/5 burpees/6 squat cleans with just about every rep – but I did complete the whole thing. Until the checkout. I did not do all 150 sit-ups. I called that one at 100. After last week I'm scared for tomorrow. Slowest one in class but under 15 minutes!

08.11.10 - Coaches Choice

Warm-up Coaches Choice:
Drills, 3 pull Max effort on Row for Watt average

For Time:
95/75/55#

10 Squat Cleans
50 Sit-ups
8 Squat Cleans
40 Sit-ups
6 Squat Cleans
30 Sit-ups
4 Squat Cleans
20 Sit-ups
2 Squat Cleans
10 Sit-ups

Check Out Coaches Choice: Nothing! YAY.

Watt Row: 317
Time: 11:04 @ 45#

Comments: Our coaches choice warm-up was a pleasure compared to the continuous relays of suicides, push-ups, and air squats Jen was running. Thanks Terry! That watt max was fun too. Only did 45# on the squat cleans (thank god). This movement clicked for me today after I applied Mark W.'s little lesson from the last time we did them. Thanks Mark! But holy sh*t. I can barely move my legs now. Was thankful for the handicap bar in the bathroom at work today and it took me twice as long as normal to climb the ramp to my car in the garage after the WOD tonight. Literally had to use my hands/arms to move my legs into position in the car. Still... glad I went. I really really need to remember this feeling next time I consider taking so much time off. Wow.

PS Might have accidentally-on-purpose miscounted on the set of 40 sit-ups. Don't care.

PS2 John G you were a great cheerleader. I needed it tonight!

08.10.10 - Heavy Overhead

3-3-3-1-1-1 Overhead Squat

6 Rounds for Time:
105/85/65# Shoulder to overhead any way*
200m Row

Max OHS: 75#*
MetCon: 10:37 @ 55#

Comments: First day back in about 6-7 weeks! Legs were loose and wobbly after the lunges in warm-up. Uh-oh. Decided early on today that I wasn't going to knock myself out but rather ease back in. It wasn't that bad! I know I totally wimped out on the WOD weight, but I feel like as long as I'm there, and trying, it's way better than what I have been doing lately (nothing!). I'm really happy I went and feel ready to rededicate myself to 2-3 days a week up until my trip at the end of September. Also have liked the look of the CrossFit Endurance WODs that happen on Thursdays. I'd like to do T/W/Th this week. We'll see.

*Current PR. No way! I thought it was 90 - kinda shocked!
**Just going to list the girls Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced weights from now on.

07.11.10 - Handstands

I've been out about two+ weeks due (in part) to this pulled spot in my abdomen that makes it impossible to do just about everything (especially burpees and push-ups) without reigniting discomfort. I don't know if I'm being lazy or smart in holding back, but even doing a bunch of silly handstands in the pool made it faintly reappear, so I guess you could say perhaps I am erring on the side of caution?

Katy and I were kind of cracking up at how ridiculous it is to pretend doing handstands in the pool compares to the handstand shots on the beach and such that people tend to send in to the gym. We got a good laugh about how it might be funny to submit this photo to the box, but this really is meant to be a joke. I will say, that while I have done a zillion handstands in the pool in my life time, I had never done them while thinking about my body positioning, and trying to do them in good form before. It's harder than it looks, and I might even say, maybe it's a good way to practice? Best of all it's fun.

So far over the past two weeks I've regretted missing most WODs. I did not, however lament over having to skip today's: completing 100 Thrusters while breaking them up by doing 4 burpees on every minute. That would have been brutal to say the least and I applaud all who accomplished it! I seriously wonder if I would have showed up to this one.